What Asian countries were colonized by the Europeans?
During the Age of Exploration, the first Europeans to arrive in Asia were the Portuguese, who established a number of enclaves for trading purposes. The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch, English (later British) and the French. The main reason was trade and, if possible, control of valuable trade goods, such as spices. The Spice Islands (Moluccas in Indonesia) were a major prize, and the Europeans fought for control of these against each other and local rulers. As time went on, many of these enclaves and trading posts grew into larger colonies as the European powers tried to exert more political control. Sometimes this resulted in a large colony, sometimes it failed. Sometimes there were colonies under direct control of the European power, sometimes local rulers governed a protectorate. By the end of the colonial era, Britain had colonised most of the Indian subcontinent, Burma (Myanmar), Hong Kong, along with Malaya and parts of North Borneo (now Malaysia and Brunei). Portugal had
